Drivy Raises $8.3 Million For Its Community-Based Car Rental Service

French startup Drivy raised a Series A round of $8.3 million (€6 million) from Index Ventures and Alven Capital. These two investors already put $2.8 million (€2 million) in seed funding. As a reminder, Drivy allows anyone to rent out their car.

On the other side, you can go to Drivy’s app or website to rent a car, usually for less than what it would cost you in a brick and mortar car rental agency. In addition to spending less money, you will receive the same insurance coverage that you would expect when you rent a car.

“I first played around the idea of building a ride-sharing service for short rides,” Drivy founder and CEO Paulin Dementhon told me. “But, little by little, I realized that there was another way to make cars useful again — by renting mostly unused cars.”

So far, 250,000 people signed up to the service in France, and there are currently 16,000 cars available on the platform. That’s why the closest car on Drivy is often closer than your car rental agency. Moreover, you won’t have to deal with opening hours and cumbersome paperwork as you will talk directly to the owner of the car.

Today’s funding round will be used to fuel international expansion. The team of 20 will first open shop in Germany and Spain. Other European countries will follow, including the U.K., Italy, the Netherlands and Belgium.

When I asked for solid numbers, Dementhon told me that 1,500 cars were rented out last weekend. Overall, the company has a 20 percent monthly growth rate when it comes to transactions. There are many European competitors in this market, but Drivy seems to be taking the lead. After becoming the French dominant player, the company now wants to be the first European leader.